Rabbi, Priest Appeal to Kidnapper to Surrender; Use Synagogue, Church As Sanctuary

Two religious leaders, a rabbi and a priest, today called upon the kidnapper of 16-year-old Laurie Murninghan to release the girl unharmed and to turn himself in. “We will not testify against you. We will not even identify you. This is a ministerial prerogative,” Rabbi Philip Frankel said at a news conference attended by the Rev. Jerome MacEachin, a Roman Catholic priest, and Max E. Marninghan, the missing girl’s father and a former mayor of this city. Rabbi Frankel appealed to the kidnapper to use synagogues and churches as sanctuaries. It was announced that a tri-faith Laurie Murninghan Reward Fund had been set up and the fund now contained $16,500. “This fund will be made available to the abductor if he turns himself in with my daughter alive,” Murninghan said. No trace has been found of the girl or her abductor. Lansing residents have been asked to search their property for any sign of the girl or her kidnapper.